The+history+of+China

China’s history

The Chinese have one of the oldest continuing generations, some from over five thousand years ago. China, almost since the establishing of it, has been ruled by dynasties. The first dynasty was the Xia Dynasty, which was established in about two thousand BC. In more than four thousand years, China has experienced over twenty-Eight dynasties with more than five hundred emperors. The first imperial dynasty was the Qin Dynasty, dating from two hundred and twenty one to two hundred and six BC. Its leader was Qin Shi Huang, Known for being the first emperor of china. He is also known for building the Great wall to protect against invading indigenous groups and Vikings. He is also famous for making the world wide famous Terracotta Army. The Han Dynasty, dating from two hundred and six BC to two hundred AD, was the second unified imperial dynasty and was considered the first golden age of China. The Silk Road, or the trade route between western Asia and Europe, flourished during this time. The Tang Dynasty, dating from six hundred and eighteen to nine hundred and seven AD, was also considered one of the most prosperous periods in China’s history. The Tang emperors, one of whom (Wu Ze Tian) was a woman, appointed foreign scholars as senior officials in the royal court. Literature, the arts science, technology, and trade all thrived during the Tang Dynasty. China's capital during this time, Chang'an (now Xi'an), was the most populous city in the world, and hosted many foreign students and merchants. Some of the Chinese dynasties were formed by native Han, or indigenous peoples, (such as the Ming Dynasty, one thousand three hundred and sixty eight–one thousand six hundred and forty four), and others were established after nomadic tribes from the north conquered China proper (as did the Qing Dynasty, one thousand six hundred and forty four to one thousand nine hundred and eleven). Nomadic tribes were eventually brought into Chinese culture. A revolution inspired by Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing Dynasty in one thousand nine hundred and eleven. In one thousand nine hundred and twelve, with the country fragmented by opposing warlords, Sun Yat-sen established the Kuomintang (KMT) party in an effort to create peace in China. After Sun's death in nineteen twenty-five, Chiang Kai-shek took control and ousted the once-allied Communist Party. The Communists, led by Mao Zedong, struggled with the KMT for control of China while both groups fought Japan in World War II. After the Japanese were defeated (one thousand nine hundred and forty five), the civil war ended with Mao's forces in control and Chiang's army running to Taiwan to regroup. They never returned, and Mao ruled from nineteen forty nine to nineteen seventy-six. China still considers Taiwan its 23rd province. Finally in two thousand and nine, leaders of China and Taiwan exchanged their first direct messages in more than sixty years. While the Chinese initially welcomed communism, the Great Leap Forward (nineteen fifty eight to sixty one) and the Cultural Revolution (nineteen sixty six to seventy six) had disastrous effects on the country. More than forty million people starved or were killed during Mao's emperor-hood. After Mao died in nineteen seventy-six, Deng Xiaoping came to power and slowly moved away from Mao’s way of rule. His more moderate policies led to foreign tourism, a more liberal economy, private enterprise, growth, trade, and educational exchanges with other nations. The Tiananmen Square massacre in June nineteen eighty nine and a subsequent government crackdown derailed these measures for a time. By nineteen ninety-two, China was again focusing on economic reform, and it quickly cultivated one of the world's fastest-growing economies. However, Deng did not favor political liberalization. Since Deng's death in nineteen ninety-seven, his successors have re-thought his policy of a socialist market economy with a strong central government. Hong Kong (a British colony) reverted to Chinese control in nineteen ninety-seven, and China was admitted to the World Trade Organization in two thousand and one. The nation also hosted the two thousand and eight Olympic games. In two thousand and eight, a powerful earthquake in the Sichuan Province killed tens of thousands of people, and months later thousands of children became ill in a tainted-milk scandal that resulted in a worldwide recall of products. In two thousand and nine, ethnic violence flared in the Xinjiang region. In two thousand and ten, the web company Google ended its compliance with Internet censorship in China after cyber attacks on human rights activists' email accounts. Despite these setbacks, the nation continues to rank among the world's leaders in gross domestic product, exports, and receipt of foreign investment.

=History Timeline=

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 * NOTE**: Clicking on the Chinese characters for each of the dynasty will bring up a list of the emperors (in Chinese) for each of the respective dynasty. However, not every dynasty will have a link. For those who has can read Chinese, I highly recommend Seke Wei's excellent [|Era and Timeline of Chinese History].
 * ~ Dates ||||~ Dynasty ||~ [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/dynasty.gif align="center"]] ||
 * ca. 2000-1500 B.C. |||| [|Xia] || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/xia.gif align="center"]] ||
 * 1700-1027 B.C. |||| [|Shang] || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/shang.gif align="center"]] ||
 * 1027-771 B.C. |||| [|Western Zhou] || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/west.gif align="center"]]
 * 770-221 B.C. |||| Eastern Zhou || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/east.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  |||| 770-476 B.C. -- Spring and Autumn period || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/spring_fall.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  |||| 475-221 B.C. -- Warring States period || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/warring.gif align="center"]]
 * 221-207 B.C. |||| [|Qin] || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/qin.gif align="center"]] ||
 * 206 B.C.-A.D. 9 |||| [|Western Han] || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/west.gif align="center"]]
 * A.D. 9-24 |||| [|Xin] (Wang Mang interregnum) || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/xin.gif align="center"]] ||
 * A.D. 25-220 |||| [|Eastern Han] || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/east.gif align="center"]]
 * A.D. 220-280 |||| Three Kingdoms || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/threekingdom.gif align="center"]] ||
 * ^  |||| 220-265 -- Wei || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/wei.gif align="center"]] ||
 * ^  |||| 221-263 -- Shu || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/shu.gif align="center"]] ||
 * ^  |||| 229-280 -- Wu || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/wu.gif align="center"]] ||
 * A.D. 265-316 |||| Western Jin || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/west.gif align="center"]]
 * A.D. 317-420 |||| Eastern Jin || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/east.gif align="center"]]
 * A.D. 420-588 |||| Southern and Northern Dynasties || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/south.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  || 420-588 || Southern Dynasties || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/south.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  ||^   || 420-478 -- Song || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/song.gif align="center"]] ||
 * ^  ||^   || 479-501 -- Qi || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/qi.gif align="center"]] ||
 * ^  ||^   || 502-556 -- Liang || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/liang.gif align="center"]] ||
 * ^  ||^   || 557-588 -- Chen || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/chen.gif align="center"]] ||
 * ^  || 386-588 || Northern Dynasties || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/north.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  ||^   || 386-533 -- Northern Wei || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/north.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  ||^   || 534-549 -- Eastern Wei || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/east.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  ||^   || 535-557 -- Western Wei || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/west.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  ||^   || 550-577 -- Northern Qi || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/north.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  ||^   || 557-588 -- Northern Zhou || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/north.gif align="center"]]
 * A.D. 581-617 |||| [|Sui] || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/sui.gif align="center"]] ||
 * A.D. 618-907 |||| [|Tang] || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/tang.gif align="center"]] ||
 * A.D. 907-960 |||| Five Dynasties || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/wudai.gif align="center"]] ||
 * ^  |||| 907-923 -- Later Liang || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/later.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  |||| 923-936 -- Later Tang || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/later.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  |||| 936-946 -- Later Jin || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/later.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  |||| 947-950 -- Later Han || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/later.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  |||| 951-960 -- Later Zhou || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/later.gif align="center"]]
 * A.D. 907-979 |||| Ten Kingdoms || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/tenguo.gif align="center"]] ||
 * A.D. 960-1279 |||| [|Song] || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/song.gif align="center"]] ||
 * ^  |||| 960-1127 -- Northern Song || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/north.gif align="center"]]
 * ^  |||| 1127-1279 -- Southern Song || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/south.gif align="center"]]
 * A.D. 916-1125 |||| Liao || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/liao.gif align="center"]] ||
 * A.D. 1038-1227 |||| Western Xia || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/west.gif align="center"]]
 * A.D. 1115-1234 |||| Jin || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/gold.gif align="center"]] ||
 * A.D. 1279-1368 |||| [|Yuan] || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/yuan.gif align="center"]] ||
 * A.D. 1368-1644 |||| [|Ming] || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/ming.gif align="center"]] ||
 * A.D. 1644-1911 |||| [|Qing] || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/qing.gif align="center"]] ||
 * A.D. 1911-1949 |||| [|Republic of China] (in mainland China) || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/republic.gif align="center"]] ||
 * A.D. 1949- |||| Republic of China (in Taiwan) ||^  ||
 * A.D. 1949- |||| [|People's Republic of China] || [[image:http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/bigchars/prc1.gif align="center"]]

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